Samsung Galaxy S23 vs Nothing Phone (2)
69
out of 100
VS
66
out of 100
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.1-inch Samsung Galaxy S23 (with Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy) that was released on February 1, 2023, against the Nothing Phone (2), which is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 and came out 5 months after. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S23
- The rear camera has a 3x optical zoom
- Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
- Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
- 19% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1712K versus 1436K)
- Delivers 21% higher peak brightness (1195 against 990 nits)
- More recent OS version: Android 16 versus 15
- The front-facing camera can record video at 4K
- Ready for eSIM technology
Reasons to consider the Nothing Phone (2)
- Has a 0.6 inch larger screen size
- Comes with 800 mAh larger battery capacity: 4700 vs 3900 mAh
- Has 2 SIM card slots
- Supports higher wattage charging (45W versus 25W)
Review
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate NanoReview Score
Value for money (Beta)
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | Dynamic AMOLED | AMOLED |
| Size | 6.1 inches | 6.7 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2340 pixels | 1080 x 2412 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 19.5:9 | 20:9 |
| PPI | 425 ppi | 394 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes (24-120 Hz) | Yes (10-120 Hz) |
| Max rated brightness | 1200 nits | 600 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 1750 nits | 1600 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, HDR10+ |
| Touch sampling rate | - | 360 Hz |
| Screen protection | Gorilla Glass Victus 2 | Corning Gorilla Glass 5 |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 88% | 87.5% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3 - Always-On Display - DC Dimming |
| RGB color space | 98.9% | 98.3% |
| PWM | 240 Hz | 90 Hz |
| Response time | 1 ms | 1 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Screen space comparison
Phone (2)
6.7″ (20:9 ratio) = 16.8 in2
Galaxy S23
6.1″ (19.5:9 ratio) = 14.2 in2
~18% more screen space
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 146.3 mm (5.76 inches) | 162.1 mm (6.38 inches) |
| Width | 70.9 mm (2.79 inches) | 76.4 mm (3.01 inches) |
| Thickness | 7.6 mm (0.3 inches) | 8.6 mm (0.34 inches) |
| Weight | 168 g (5.93 oz) | 201.2 g (7.1 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP54 |
| Advanced cooling | Vapor chamber | Vapor chamber |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Black, Gray, Green, Purple, Yellow | White, Gray |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, in-display |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 |
| Max clock | 3360 MHz | 3200 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 2 + 2 + 3) | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 3 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A510 - 2 cores at 2.8 GHz: Cortex-A710 - 2 cores at 2.8 GHz: Cortex-A715 - 1 core at 3.2 GHz: Cortex-X3 |
- 4 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A510 - 3 cores at 2.75 GHz: Cortex-A710 - 1 core at 3.2 GHz: Cortex-X2 |
| L3 cache | 8 MB | 6 MB |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | TSMC |
| Lithography process | 4 nanometers | 4 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Hexagon | Hexagon |
| Graphics | Adreno 740 | Adreno 730 |
| GPU shading units | 1536 | 1024 |
| GPU clock | 680 MHz | 900 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~2089 GFLOPS | ~1843.2 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 9410 | 5931 |
| Single-core score | 1987 | 1729 |
| Multi-core score | 5171 | 4563 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 587063 | 545410 |
| GPU | 434955 | 241847 |
| Memory | 275390 | 249651 |
| UX | 414985 | 399726 |
| Total score | 1712393 | 1436634 |
| Samples | [29 tests] | [7 tests] |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Stability | 76% | 76% |
| Graphics test | 8 FPS | 6 FPS |
| Graphics score | 1069 | 823 |
3DMark Solar Bay
| Stability | 73% | - |
| Graphics test | 20 FPS | - |
| Section 1 | 23 FPS | - |
| Section 2 | 20 FPS | - |
| Section 3 | 18 FPS | - |
| Graphics score | 5348 | - |
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
| Stability | 61% | - |
| Graphics test | 21 FPS | - |
| Graphics score | 3669 | - |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 15188 | - |
| Video editing | 7873 | - |
| Photo editing | 33939 | - |
| Data manipulation | 12935 | - |
| Writing score | 19390 | - |
Recent User Tests
Samsung Galaxy S23
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-09-21 (Mil) | AnTuTu 12 | 1763249 |
| 📘 2026-09-16 (Fluffyicebite:3) | AnTuTu 12 | 1835927 |
| 📘 2026-09-09 -> Rafarobbie22 | AnTuTu 11 | 1708074 |
| 📘 2026-09-09 (Rafa) | AnTuTu 11 | 1708074 |
| 📘 2026-08-09 (Sevin) | AnTuTu 11 | 1700056 |
Nothing Phone (2)
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-06-11 (Ramalama) | AnTuTu 11 | 1375740 |
| 📘 2026-03-26 (meqvice) | AnTuTu 11 | 1395466 |
| 📘 2026-02-07 (Skvizi) | AnTuTu 11 | 1473702 |
| 📘 2025-12-31 (Kilian) | AnTuTu 11 | 1436722 |
| 📘 2025-12-31 (Twister) | AnTuTu 11 | 1436634 |
Memory
| RAM size | 8 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5X | LPDDR5 |
| Memory clock | - | 3200 MHz |
| Channels | 4 | 4 |
| Storage size | 128 GB | 128 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 4.0 | UFS 3.1 |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 13 (Can be upgraded to Android 16) | Android 13 (Can be upgraded to Android 15) |
| ROM | One UI 8.0 | Nothing OS 2.5 |
| OS size | 29.7 GB | 28 GB |
| OS updates | 4 years | - |
| Security updates | 5 years | - |
Battery
| Capacity | 3900 mAh | 4700 mAh |
| Max charge power | 25 W | 45 W |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Po |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (10 W) | Yes (15 W) |
| Reverse charging | Yes, (wireless) | Yes, (wireless) |
| Bypass charging | Yes | - |
| Fast charging | Yes (57% in 30 min) | Yes (62% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:16 hr | 1:04 hr |
| Web browsing | 08:12 hr | 10:12 hr |
| Watching video | 13:41 hr | 16:37 hr |
| Gaming | 05:20 hr | 06:07 hr |
| Standby | 109 hr | 91 hr |
General battery life
Main camera
| Matrix | 50 megapixels | 50 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8160 x 6120 | 8192 x 6144 |
| Zoom | Optical, 3x | Digital |
| Flash | LED | LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | Up to 30FPS | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 120FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 960 FPS (1080p) | 240 FPS (1080p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 120° | 114° |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 50 MP 2) Telephoto: 10 MP 3) Ultrawide: 12 MP |
1) Standard: 50 MP 2) Ultrawide: 50 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
| Image resolution | 50 MP | 50 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.8 | f/1.9 |
| Focal length | 23 mm | 24 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung S5KGN3 | Sony IMX890 |
| Sensor size | 1/1.57" (≈ 0.64 inch) | 1/1.56" (≈ 0.64 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1 micron | 1 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) | Phase autofocus |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | 10 MP | - |
| Aperture | f/2.4 | - |
| Focal length | 70 mm | - |
| Sensor | Samsung S5K3K1 | - |
| Sensor size | 1/3.94" (≈ 0.25 inch) | - |
| Pixel size | 1 micron | - |
| Stabilization | Optical | - |
| Image resolution | 12 MP | 50 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 13 mm | - |
| Sensor | Sony IMX564 | Samsung S5KJN1 |
| Sensor size | 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) | 1/2.76" (≈ 0.36 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.4 micron | 0.64 micron |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
DxOMark main camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
| Bokeh | 70 | - |
| Preview | 72 | - |
| Zoom | 126 | - |
| Samples | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S23 from DxOMark | Photo samples of Nothing Phone (2) from DxOMark |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 12 megapixels | 32 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4000 x 3000 | 6528 x 4896 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.5 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | - |
| Sensor | Samsung S5K3LU | Sony IMX615 |
| Sensor size | 1/3.24" (≈ 0.31 inch) | 1/2.74" (≈ 0.36 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.12 micron | 0.8 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) | No |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Video resolution | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS | 1080p (Full HD) at 60 FPS |
| Depth sensor (TOF 3D) | No | No |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 6E (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) |
| Wi-Fi features | - Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
- Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 5.3 | 5.3 |
| Bluetooth features | LE | LE |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 3.2 | 2 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| DisplayPort | Yes, DP 1.2 | - |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS | GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM* | 1 | 2 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | Standby |
| eSIM support* | Yes | No |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat* | 20 | 20 |
| 5G support | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | No |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | February 2023 | July 2023 |
| Release date | February 2023 | July 2023 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $799 | $599 |
| Successor | - Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus (Snapdragon) | - Nothing Phone (3) |
| SAR (head) | 0.96 W/kg | - |
| SAR (body) | 1.3 W/kg | - |
| Sensors | - Hall-effect sensor - Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
| Bundled charger | Not included | Not included |
Further details
Notes on Galaxy S23:
- The 128GB version uses slower UFS 3.1 memory, while the 256GB and 512GB models have UFS 4.0.
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
If the camera, performance, gaming, connectivity, software, design, and sound are more important to you, then choose the Samsung Galaxy S23. But if the battery life is more of a priority – go for the Nothing Phone (2).
Cast your vote
Total votes: 143